Air warfare of World War II

• 1. Pre-War Doctrine And Planning

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  In the 1920s, Italian theorist Giulio Douhet declared that "the bomber will always get through." This belief shaped the strategic thinking of nations before 1939. The United States Army Air Corps placed its faith in the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. American planners believed this aircraft could reach distant targets while protected by its own weapons. They relied on the Norden bombsight to achieve what they called "pickle barrel" accuracy. Japan operated under largely theoretical models of air warfare during this period. Japanese aviation pioneers felt they had developed the finest naval aviators in the world. Germany and Italy focused their pre-war planning on tactical support for ground forces rather than independent strategic bombing campaigns. Britain began building long-range bombers to implement its own theory of strategic bombing once it became clear Germany was a threat. By 1934, the Royal Air Force possessed only 42 squadrons with 800 aircraft. Within five years, that number grew to 157 squadrons and 3,700 aircraft.

• 2. The Luftwaffe's Strategic Failure

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  Under Hermann Göring, the Luftwaffe learned new combat techniques in the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939. Its Stuka dive bombers terrified enemy infantry units during the early war years from 1939 to 1941. However, the force never ramped up to the size needed for total war. A lack of military aircraft production infrastructure hampered both completed airframes and powerplants compared to the Soviet Union or United States. The death of General Walther Wever on the 3rd of June 1936, ended hopes for a strategic bomber force. Without his leadership, the Luftwaffe lacked heavy bombers capable of major damage against British cities. The Heinkel He 177A Greif remained plagued by engine fires, with just under 1,200 examples ever built. Radar technology lagged behind Allied systems until usable UHF and VHF band designs like the Lichtenstein appeared later. The Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter did not enter service until July 1944. By that time, fuel supplies ran dry due to the oil campaign of World War II. In 1944, the Luftwaffe operated 39,000 flak batteries staffed with a million people in uniform.

• 3. Allied Air Superiority Campaigns

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  The Allies won battlefield air supremacy in the Pacific in 1943 and in Europe in 1944. This victory meant Allied supplies reached battlefronts while enemy reinforcements could not. Lieutenant General Jimmy Doolittle took command of the US 8th Air Force in January 1944. He released P-51 Mustang squadrons from their intended mission to escort heavy bombers. These fighters flew well ahead of the bombers' combat box formations by some 75, 100 miles. They cleared skies over the Third Reich of any defensive presence from Luftwaffe Jagdgeschwader wings. The RAF demonstrated speed and maneuverability during the Battle of Britain in 1940 when Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane fighters riddled clumsy Stukas pulling out of dives. Tactical doctrine stated primary missions included turning tactical superiority into complete air supremacy. Anti-aircraft artillery played a role but was downgraded by most airmen. Close air support remained the lowest priority for the Army Air Forces because it subordinated the air war to ground operations. Operation Cobra in July 1944 targeted a critical strip of German strength holding up the US breakthrough out of Normandy.

• 4. Pacific Theater Carrier Warfare

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  Japan did not have a separate air force; its aviation units were integrated into the Army and Navy. Japanese naval air power proved unexpectedly powerful, sinking the American battleship fleet at Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Land-based airpower enabled Japan to overrun Malaya, Singapore, and the Philippines by spring 1942. The Doolittle Raid used 16 B-25 bombers taking off from aircraft carriers to bomb Tokyo in April 1942. Little physical damage occurred, but the episode shocked Japanese leadership. By mid-1942, the Japanese Combined Fleet held vast areas without sufficient aircraft carriers or aircrew to defend them. The Battle of the Coral Sea fought between the 4th of May 8, 1942 off Australia marked the first carrier battle where opposing fleets never saw one another. Damage to one Japanese fleet carrier left both that ship and another carrier's airgroup out of the Battle of Midway. On the 4th of June 1942, three of four Japanese carriers were sunk early in the battle due to tactical errors and lucky breaks executing decisive American attacks. Having lost all their carriers, the Japanese were forced to retreat unable to use surface fleet without air cover.

• 5. Precision Guided Munitions Development

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  Both the Luftwaffe and USAAF pioneered precision-guided munitions during World War II. The Luftwaffe was the first to use such weapons with the Fritz X armor-piercing anti-ship glide bomb on the 9th of September 1943 against the Italian battleship Roma. III.Gruppe/KG 100's Dornier Do 217 medium bombers achieved two hits exploding powder magazines and sinking her. Both the Fritz X and unarmored Henschel Hs 293 guided glide bomb used Kehl-Strasbourg radio control links. A joystick-equipped Funkgerät FuG 203 Kehl transmitter operated from deploying aircraft while corresponding receivers controlled ordnance flight paths. The United States Army Air Forces developed the Azon guided bomb converted from regular 453 kg high explosive bombs. Special radio-controlled vertical tailfins controlled lateral path to targets. Missions flew in Western Europe summer and autumn 1944 and China-Burma-India theatre early 1945. Two separate B-24 Liberator squadrons had limited success with devices. U.S. Navy Bat anti-ship ordnance contained half-ton HE bombs within aerodynamic airframes using fully autonomous onboard radar guidance systems.

• 6. Strategic Bombing Of Japan

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  The flammability of Japan's large cities made strategic bombing the preferred American strategy. Massive efforts costing $4.5 billion to establish B-29 bases in China failed when Japanese Army forces captured them in 1944. Captured Marianas islands Saipan and Tinian gave secure bases for very-long-range Superfortress bombers. General Curtis LeMay ordered radical tactical changes in early 1945 removing machine guns and gunners to fly low at night. Tokyo suffered a serious blow during Operation Meetinghouse raid on March 9/10 1945 destroying nearly 270,000 buildings over 16 square miles killing at least 83,000 people. On the 5th of June 1945, 51,000 buildings in four miles of Kobe burned out by 473 B-29s. Kamikaze suicide planes aimed like guided missiles at American ships began attacks in October 1944 continuing until war end. During three-month Battle of Okinawa spring 1945, 4,000 kamikaze sorties sank 38 US ships damaging 368 more killing 4,900 sailors. Expecting increased resistance including far more Kamikaze attacks once main islands invaded, U.S. high command used atomic bombs to end war hoping it would make costly invasion unnecessary.